This year, as in previous years, I am experimenting with Pannettone. This wonderful, but complicated Italian Christmas bread/cake is one of the baking challenges that I haven’t yet mastered. I have tried it a few times over the last few years, and there are several tricky parts. First, it is quite hard to find the tall narrow baking tins that are best for this bread. One year I bought a set of cheap mugs from a discount store, and lined them with baking paper to make little ones. Other years I have made small ones in muffin tins. I have on one occasion managed to buy online some of the special paper moulds that the Italians use for this bread.
Second, the bread (or at least the recipe that I usually use from Dan Lepard) involves some quite esoteric ingredients – cocoa butter, orange flower water, rose water, panettone essence, chocolate essence. I had small bottles of the latter two from a baking class in Melbourne in about 2007 that I used for a couple of years. We went looking for panettone essence (Fiori di sicilia) last year when we were in Sicily, and finally tracked some down (most places, even there, looked at us with puzzlement). The precious bottle was carefully wrapped and secreted in the bottom of a suitcase, and made it here in one piece. Then, the last challenge is getting the bread to rise. It is chock full of fruit, sugar and eggs, and I have found on several occasions that my sourdough starter goes on strike and refuses to rise. The bread, though nice, ends up quite dense.
I managed to piece together most of the ingredients this year (no orange flower water), and have tried a new approach to the baking tins. In one website I found a description of making some origami paper baskets for the bread. That seemed like a neat idea, so I ended up making a couple of different shapes (including these small, but taller boxes). Here is the mix in my new panettone ‘tins’, waiting to rise.
And here they are, later the same day...
I wasn’t sure that I would be baking the panettone yesterday. When I have made them before, the dough has been so slow to rise that I have often left it overnight and baked them the following morning. But today, to my surprise, the dough actually behaved as it was supposed to, and doubled over a period of about 6 hours. In the end I baked them after a proof of about 8 hours – extraordinarily long by the standards of most breads and cakes, but quite short for my experience with these breads. I am not sure what made the difference, except I am pretty sure that the warm humid weather here in Adelaide was a big factor, plus the warmth of our kitchen – hot from baking 6 loaves of bread, several batches of ‘stained glass’ biscuits, and roasting garlic for olive oil.
The inverted suspension is supposed to help the breads retain their airiness, and stop collapsing when they come out of the oven. I have tried that before, and I can’t remember, but I suspect that they misbehaved as the first bread did today – falling to pieces and dropping bits on the floor. There was a moment of tension as we flipped the bread over, and waited for it to fall apart. In fact, it wasn’t too bad – the top cracked, and molten chocolate started to ooze out after a few minutes – so we decided to rescue it. I think part of the problem was the size of the large bread. The smaller ones remain upside down on the clothes rack, and look as if they are behaving.
Meanwhile the house is full of the sweet, fruity, flowery perfume of this bread.
The next morning, here is the sliced final product. This is the best so far - light, not too crumbly, moist, and utterly, utterly moorish.
It is a bit of a palaver, but I suspect that this will not be my only batch of panettone this season…
Replies
I didn't post Dan's recipe initially, but now I have found it posted on his forum, so here it is in all its glory.
This is my absolute favourite recipe - and four years later I am a little closer to something that Dan might recognise.
Couple of notes. I have in the past, and this year made 2/3 of Dan's quantities. This made one large and three small panettones.
This one is pure sourdough - no commercial yeast.
I used 1/2 soaked sultanas (in brandy) and 1/2 chocolate.
The flavouring mix that I used was a mix of vanilla, chocolate, rose water and panettone essence. (Dan's original instructions don't make clear that the vanilla/choc/rose/orange are a substitute for panettone essence, though that makes more sense).
I didn't bake as long as Dan suggests, and suspect that might have helped for the big version. I also think that steam may help to maximise the rise.
I don't have a mixer, so my dough was mixed by hand - I think, though can't be sure, that this would make the final result even lighter.
You can use white chocolate instead of cocoa butter if you find that hard to find (I don't use any dairy in my panettone, so that isn't an option for me).
I also used a glaze from Wild Yeast - see bottom:
enjoy!
Dom
Glaze
I have had fun making Panettone in the past and last year I bought a silicone mold to make them with. I really like the idea of using the Origami box to make it in. I think I will try to make one that way this year. Thanks for the idea.
Just a post for another Origami shape that I think will work really well. The spam filter was triggered and I can't paste in the web address. Find a site called origami-instruction and find the vase instrucrtions. That should get you a shape that is more like a Panettone if someone wants to go that route. I did a vase from a 9" square and it made a nice small size mold. When you fold the vase you will have the ablity to make the slope of the sides and the width of the base to your liking. Pactice a little bit and you will see what I mean.
Found LeadDog's Websites. www.origami-instructions.com/
The Vase pattern is here. www.origami-instructions.com/easy-origami-vase.html
Merry Christmas, M
I just tried to make Panettone using the vase and it doesn't work very well with expanding dough. The paper unfolded on me and the dough was spreading out. I would say not to use this origami vase for making Panettone.
Thanks Midnite Baker. I have been practicing with 11 inch square pieces of paper and made a vase with 3 inches sides and 4 inch square base. I'm getting really close to the shape that I wanted to use. I think this is going to be fun. Have a Merry Chistmas too.
New to commenting here, but I must say that I am struck at how complicated Dan Lepard's recipe is.I started my sour dough from a recipe of his. Although I have been baking bread for years, it is an endless journey with always much to discover. I love your origami boxes and think they are not so different from the paper forms they use for pannettone. I live in the land of Pannettone and it is uncommon to have that many candied fruits in a Pannettone which may contribute to the density and difficulty of getting it to rise. Generally speaking, Italians prefer say fewer ingredients, and many varieties, so that the flavors shine through and don't compete with one another. We have a small Pannettone factory in our neighboring big town and that tends to be the rule for them. They make all of their Pannettone and Pandoro with levito madre. I let my pannettone rise at least overnight. My husband said his grandmother always let hers rise at least 24 hours, so you shouldn't be afraid to let it have a long development. I think though your latest ones look quite delicious.
[quote=Marla]
I let my pannettone rise at least overnight. My husband said his grandmother always let hers rise at least 24 hours, so you shouldn't be afraid to let it have a long development. I think though your latest ones look quite delicious. [/quote]
Hi Marla, does your naturally leavened pannettone get sour with such a looong rise?
Ciao Panevino,
No it doesn't because my levito madre, isn't sour tasting to begin with. In general my starter is not strong tasting, but if I find that it is, I try to use it and feed a bit before making Panettone to tame the flavor. I don't think it has to do as much with the length of the fermentation as it does with the flavor of your levito going in to the dough. I hope that makes sense.
Yes Marla, it makes perfect sense. Thank you.
Hi Marla,
great to hear from you (and welcome to the forum). It is fantastic to have insight from someone from an Italian background. I often wonder how close my creations are to the real thing!
Dan's recipe is complicated, though in fact there are various options listed above, and I don't think his idea was to include all of them. (I quite like having a little bit of chocolate as well as some raisins, but perhaps it would be more traditional to just have the raisins and candied peel). What fruit do you add to yours?
cheers
Dom
Thanks Sourdom, for your kind words....I think chocolate would be a fine addition to the candied fruit and sultanas/raisins. Without the chocolate, it is the "classic" panettone. Chocolate doesn't overcomplicated it. I just kind of thought overkill when it got to the marron glace/ chestnuts. They have a subtle but distinct flavor that would be over shadowed with all the other flavors. I've had wonderful chocolate and pear combos, and I think fig was one of my all time favorites. I'm also a fan of Pandoro, which is pretty much panettone without any additions at all. It is dusted in powder sugar before serving. When it's a flavorful bread/cake Pandoro rocks on it's own. I tried to upload a photo here of our local panettone, but to no avail, but here is a link to a couple of photos of a couple panettones in their showroom that is infront of the factory. When they are baking as the fo so often these days, it is heavenly smelling around town. plus.google.com/u/0/photos/111168697111270490362/albums/5308910687638067825/5685750845558005954
Thanks Dom,
For raising the topic of Pannetone.
As a result I was inspired to give it a go as we have long been fans of Pannetone. Curiously, I am pretty sure we first heard if it from one of our children's books about the story of Easter and the traditions associated with that festival but it certainly seems to be very much a Christmas thing these days.
But, I digress.
Firstly I based mine on a yeasted recipe that I had and just converted it and scaled it to allow for the flour and water in the starter (plus a couple of other tweaks for ingredients that I didn't have to hand). Second, I used the Kitchenaid for the first part of the dough development as it started off fairly 'battery'. Third, I proved and baked in pudding basins - maybe next time I will try the origami. Fourth, the timings were much extended - probably due to the richness of the dough with the eggs and fat. Final proving took 24 hours. Fifth, hanging upside down was not an option but no evidence of collapse.
And this is the result.
Maybe not as light and fluffy as the commercial ones but just as tasty and the vast satisfaction of having done it yourself.
Have a great festive season everyone.
Farinam
Man, I could take a bite of that beauty. With some espresso, of course.
It is that time of year again.
In the lead up to Christmas, with all the chaos of work deadlines, school finishing, present purchases, social functions, preparations for big meals, what does sourdom do? He decides to bake a 60 hour bread.
I have been baking Panettone at this time of year I think for about 7 years. Over that time I have tried various recipes, tricks, tins. Each year has been getting closer, and this year is, (IMHO) the best year. Incredibly light, fluffy, fruity, the cake even behaved and rose as it was supposed to.
In past years I have found the dough rising so slowly that I had to leave it for anything from 6 to 8 hours or more before baking. This year it was racing off the blocks, and by 3 or 4 hours was reaching the top of the paper moulds that my wife had found for me in a local kitchenware store
The only problem with my dough’s excitingly rapid progress was that I had banked on it going a bit slower – and leaving it all night. Instead it was ready to go in the oven at 3am.
Ouch.
I have plenty of experience of sleep interruption, with 4 children and regular on calls. But I only have myself to blame for my seriously interrupted sleep last night.
Still – made for a nice breakfast…